In the final match of Group B of EURO 2024, midfielder Mattia Zaccagni’s “golden goal” in the 90+8 minute helped Italy tie with Croatia, thereby helping Italy win a spot in the 1/8 round.

Entering the decisive match with Croatia, Italy had a few changes in the main squad compared to the 0-1 defeat against Spain when Darmian, Raspadori, Retegui started to replace Frattesi, Chiesa and Scamacca. Coach Spalletti also switched the Azzurri from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-2-3-1 with Retegui playing highest in attack.

Right in the 5th minute, the first chance of the match appeared and it belonged to Croatia. Young midfielder Sucic shot a strong and dangerous long-range shot with his left foot aimed straight at the top corner, but goalkeeper Donnarumma brilliantly flew to save Italy.

In the time that followed, Croatia was the team that controlled the ball more, but Italy was the one who created the most waves. The Azzurri’s most dangerous opportunity came in the 27th minute, when Barella smartly passed the ball from outside the penalty area for Bastoni to head strongly at close range. However, goalkeeper Livakovic had excellent reflexes to save Croatia.

At the beginning of the second half, specifically in the 52nd minute, Croatia was given 11 meters after substitute Frattesi touched the ball in the penalty area. On the penalty spot, captain Modric could not beat goalkeeper Donnarumma.

However, almost immediately, Modric redeemed himself by opening the score after a decisive close-range kick. Before that, Donnarumma continued to play excellently, saving Italy when substitute Budimir finished from close range. With the goal, Modric became the oldest player to score in EURO history (38 years and 289 days).

Receiving a goal, Italy attacked with all their might and they created good pressure on Croatia’s goal. However, what the defending champion lacks is precision in the final handling situations. When everything seemed to be over for Italy, at minute 90+8 – the last minute of extra time of the match, substitute Zaccagni put his right foot dangerously into the net for Croatia to equalize a breathtaking 1-1. for Italy.

With this result, Italy followed Spain to win tickets to the 1/8 round of EURO 2024 with second place in Group B, possessing 4 points after 3 matches. As for Croatia, they were almost eliminated because they only got 2 points. At this time, Croatia is only ranked 5th in the list of teams ranked 3rd with the best results.